Kyrie Irving struck a more optimistic tone about his future in Boston in an interview with Boston Sports Journal, but still remained non-committal about where he'll play beyond next season.

a€œI think thata€™s the exciting part about all this is that when youa€™re shaping up to gear up to be a championship-caliber team for years to come a€” which I think [C's president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] has echoed for a little bit,"A Irving told BSJ'sA BrianA Robb (subscription required).A "Ia€™m just appreciative to be a part of it and see where my career can take off as well. Ia€™m excited.a€

Irving, who by training camp is expected to be fully recovered from the offseason knee procedure that kept him out of the playoffs, said he's excited to finally get to play with Gordon Hayward, who should be back from his ankle injury. Hayward joins a mix of emerging stars (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) along with veterans (Irving, Al Horford).A

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a€œIa€™m just excited to see what that looks like, really getting that experience with G and seeing what other pieces we have going forward," Irving said. "When you add another prominent ballhandler, creator of opportunities, scorer and defender in Gordon, thata€™s something you cana€™t necessarily talk about it, you can only see. Thata€™s something a lot of us are excited to see from G.a€A